Trophic
by Kandescent Shades
Summary: College AU. Soma gets deeply involved in the family business. To save face and prove elitism wrong, he must first fight to be the best at Totsuki. Or else his dreams will just stay as dreams. And the secret to becoming a better cook... who was this cute girl that's starting to bring drama into his life? Hisako x Soma
**A/N Hello~ This will be my first Shokugeki no Soma story, and I don't know how it'll turn out or how often I can update, but anyways; the gist of the plot is an AU where Totsuki is a college and Soma is looking for ways to improve his cooking (for reasons explained later). For this particular story, I want to pair him up with Hisako (they're pretty cute in the manga). I'll try to balance everything from dialogue to description to Shokugeki (which I'll have to eventually attempt I guess) without going too overboard like Charles Dickens. Anyways enjoy.**

Vacation had passed by rather quick, or so it seemed when there wasn't much to do. Soma glanced every now and then to check his watch as he speed walked to his first class of the day. Brushing his red bangs out of the way, he strode into class.

It was a few minutes before class started, according to the clock. Seats were mostly filled, but left enough open for Soma to make a choice. He spotted an open aisle seat to the left column nearest to him, a few rows from the back. He sat down promptly and made haste to open his bag to withdraw a spiral for notes.

A girl was sitting next to him. She had magenta hair that faded into a few nice, dark strands near the edges. She red glasses and a navy blue blazer. Seemingly too austere, Soma decided not to open up a conversation.

Other students were busy catching up with their friends, talking about last night's new episode of whatever series, the newest rumors about other people, and far too many things for Soma to keep track of or maintain interest in. But he felt a slight pang as he compared their much more simpler lives to his. He didn't come here for the sole purpose to learn; he came here to survive.

 _"But if your son should be defeated..."_

And that would not happen. Soma promised his father and himself that.

 _"I always get what I want, Saiba-senpai."_

The last of the vacant seats were filled and not a moment later, the professor walked in.

"If you think this will be an easy course," he began, scrutinizing everyone critically.

"Then get out. I don't have time for nonsense," he concluded. A pleasant welcoming statement for the early morning. He prepped the kitchen table and at once set to preparing the ingredients.

"This might be the time you all start writing down notes if you wish to pass," he snarked. Normally people would mutter sounds of discontent, but all had heard about Professor Shinomiya in advance and showed their fearful deference.

Admittedly, writing for prolonged periods was not in Soma's repertoire but he was going to have to get used to this soon. He had one year to prove himself. Hopefully that would be enough, as he set to feverishly jotting down notes that Shinomiya spat out or expected to notice on how he readied the food.

* * *

"Oh my God, that was brutal," one student said to his friend.

"That's a word," replied his friend, nursing his hand. The lesson had lasted for two hours and during the last 45 minutes, Shinomiya ordered them to attempt a replication of his Coq au vin, a French dish of significant difficulty. For one thing, Shinomiya would not even consider tasting a dish that didn't even _visually_ resemble his. Even beyond that, almost none tasted near the level of savoriness that his did. Though it was duly noted that there were exceptions. Soma took silent satisfaction that Shinomiya didn't scowl at his dish, which was the closest to him ever saying, 'good job'.

A few other students had managed to assemble something adequate as well. A few girls and about five or four other boys. Out of 150 total students. Well, perhaps down the road things would improve.

The rest of Soma's classes were just as difficult, but perhaps more bearable as the professors seemed a little more approachable than Shinomiya-senpai. Soma's ego was not inflated, and this college would definitely never give him the chance to be. There was so much he had never thought to have conceived, recipes he had not witnessed in action before. All this was tantalizing information to be absorbed, but even with his exceptional raw talent, it was far too much to consume all in the span of one day.

Soma took notice that a small margin of his peers shared most of his classes with him. About four or so. They must have had a similar passion for the more demanding classes like he did. Only one person shared all of his classes, but he had yet to speak to her.

After his third class of the day, Soma finally got a lunch break. His next class would be at 1:30, so he had a bit of time to explore campus and recuperate. He found a nice spot near one of Totsuki's lakes and sat down, unpacking his lunch box.

"Well," he breathed deeply. "Teachers are drill sergeants, I have to walk miles between classes, and I can't find my squi- oh there it is!" he exclaimed, finding his dried calamari in the corner of the box. _Good stuff,_ he mused as he chewed and sucked the flavor out of it.

Since he was living on his own now, basically, he had to prepare his own breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That wasn't too bad, as he got to choose the menu. Depending on what was available, however. Given Soma's situation, he had to improvise and figure out many issues, including housing and food. He managed to snag some part-time jobs during the weekends to pay off tuition and fortunately, his father was able to setup a storage house of a large variety foods and ingredients in fair stock near his location. However, Soma did not want to expend this valuable resource unless something warranted the occasion.

After finishing his lunch, he had a little over an hour of spare time. Meandering through the campus, he saw pockets of students here and there, a few posters signalling the Extracurricular Fair coming soon and both former and aspiring clubs hoping for new members to join them. A couple of them caught Soma's eye and then he noticed several students running the other way.

"Hurry up! We're going to miss the good parts!"

"Well, not everyone has long legs!" someone panted back.

This piqued his interest, so Soma followed to find the source of this frenzy.

When he arrived at one of Totsuki's exhibition halls, he saw a large circle of people, and clearly the action was in the middle of it. He walked down the steps to get a better view. Deftly wading his way through, he got to the front as people clamored and shouted their excitement.

"I bet twenty on Nakiri!" One person shouted.

"Weak!" Another responded. "Forty!" was the reply, as the stakes were raised. It was what you would expect; jeering, yelling, an overall volatile atmosphere that was somehow addictive to be in. The hype was palpable and the only thing missing was the conclusion.

"What's going on?" Soma asked the person next to him. It just so happened to be the girl who was in all of his classes.

"A Shokugeki," she responded tacitly. Her expression said that she thought it was way too early in the year for this type of thing, but it was to be expected at such a cutthroat place like Totsuki.

"How does that work?" he asked. It was clear that this was a competition, but he was lacking the specifics.

"The sides in question who have met in a dispute bet something, each of significant wager. Winner takes all... and then some," she trailed off. He could fill in the rest. There was a kind of awkward silence, so he tried to contribute something.

"I'm Soma. Yukihira Soma, by the way." She appraised him, none too impressed.

"Arato," was her brief reply. Well, it was something.

The match was painfully favored towards the pale girl named Nakiri, but Soma noticed she was not even perturbed by the events surrounding her. It was as though this match was a play, and she already knew the ending. And soon enough-

Curtain call.

A haphazardly prepared shellfish broth versus a carefully stirred, chicken risotto with seasoning. There weren't exactly official judges for this Shokugeki, but trays of small bowls were filled and dozens of students rushed to grab a small portion to taste the dishes presented.

There was audible praise for Nakiri's ingenious recipe, which included melted butter that was somehow chilled to create a contrasting, yet deliciously new flavor, as Soma took a spoonful in. As for the other candidate, the grimaces said enough.

"I'll be taking the rights to your club now," Nakiri said smugly. With a defeated visage, the upperclassman conceded his club documents and was dragged off stage by his few friends, too crestfallen to walk himself as the mockery followed.

Somehow this felt worse than Shinomiya's class, but Soma did not intervene.

"So that's what happens when you lose," he stated. "And then some," he echoed. Arato spared a short glance at him.

"He knew the dangers. It's his fault for trying, and then failing. Here at this college, the weak will be purged, sooner or later."

That was a bit harsh to phrase it like that, but it held truth as Soma had to grudgingly admit. But a part of him felt bitter. Argumentative even.

"It doesn't have to stay that way," he responded instinctively. Arato raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't it?" She inspected him closely. "Anyone who's decent at this institution got here that way, and that's how we'll decide who gets to stay."

She started walking away, and then paused for a slight moment.

"Break's almost over," she remarked and continued on.

Soma's face scrunched slightly in distaste.

* * *

The school had news bulletins all over the place, but most of the hot news was relayed through word-of-mouth and it soon spread about the upperclassman who was thrashed with no effort by Nakiri Alice.

Classes finally ended, and as Soma began the walk back to his room in one of the cheapest residence halls, he caught sight of a huge board with names and numbers. Upon closer examination, he saw the top 100 rankings for students. There were roughly 7000 students this year, so top 100 was less than 2% of the students. In order to see everyone else, you had to scroll the digital list down. While Shokugekis were not officially a part of the curriculum, it was hugely involved with the student body and even the faculty acknowledged the legitimacy and weight of the Shokugeki system. There were other details to it, but basically, if you ever had to participate in a Shokugeki for any reason, it was best not to lose.

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully, and that did not rest well with Soma.

He realized a long time ago, the best way to stimulate his growth was through a challenge; some kind of risk factor involved. Theoretical knowledge and in-class assignments could only do so much.

Along with many who were too afraid to seek out opponents, he was tied for last in the rankings.

"Say, what do you get for going higher in the ranking system?" Soma asked Arato on this Friday afternoon. It was their last class of the day.

"Better reputation, more resources, and a stake in the school politics," she responded coolly. Arato herself was noticeably higher in the standings than he was. She had previously attended Totsuki High before moving over to continue her education in Totsuki College. It also meant she must have served her share of battles in the past as well.

Well, he had to start somewhere.

Before the week ended, he needed to find a Shokugeki.

Or maybe the Shokugeki might find him.

 **A/N I hope that was alright. Please don't hold me too accountable for the accuracy of the dishes (and all the logistics), I'm no food aficionado. The romance will kick in later and I promise soon, but tell me what you think and I'll see what I can do in the future (for frequency, pacing, just new ideas in general). Ciao~**


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